Visibility is an essential safety aspect for all vehicle drivers. Therefore vehicles such as cars and trucks are normally fitted with exterior lights such as headlights/headlamps to aid drivers to see in dark or unclear environments.
In order to further increase visibility and reduce energy consumption and maintenance expenses, High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights such as Xenon systems are now also being added to vehicles. In recent years attention has been drawn to safety issues regarding driver visibility and use of Xenon systems and as a result in certain places such as Europe headlamp cleaning devices have become mandatory for Xenon systems (Euro Standard ECE R45). However, the need for assuring clean headlights at all times is not limited to a particular type of light.
With an increasing number of countries introducing such regulations and with the growing awareness of vehicle safety, there has emerged a need for new and used cars to be fitted with light cleaning devices.
The cleaning devices are generally installed in a front portion of the car and shoot a jet spray of washing liquid to an external surface of the headlamp to remove dirt therefrom and thus increase driver visibility and even more so to reduce or eliminate blinding of a driver in an upcoming vehicle (owing to dirt on the lamp shield de-fragmenting the light).
It should be noted that a combination of high velocities at which vehicles may be operated combined with necessary cavities in the device, for the use of jet sprays, make the cleaning device itself a potential victim of dirt penetration.
Examples of light cleaning devices of the relevant type are disclosed in the following references:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,114 discloses a motor vehicle headlamp glass washing apparatus comprising a jet nozzle mounted on a retractable jet carrier and supplied selectively from a source of washing liquid under pressure. The jet carrier comprises a variable volume chamber, which is defined by a fixed element and a movable element which slides on the fixed element and which carries the jet nozzle. A spring acts between the fixed and movable elements to bias the movable element into a retracted position. Supply of liquid under pressure to the variable volume chamber initially moves the movable element against the action of the spring into a deployed position, and then supplies the liquid to the jet nozzle. The fixed element is a tube open at a free end and connected to the liquid source at its other end, the movable element comprising a closed body having an internal space communicating with the jet nozzle. This space is delimited by a first part sliding sealingly on the outside of the tube, and a second part penetrating into the tube so as to close the latter and movable outwardly in the tube under the action of the pressurized liquid so as to bring the interior of the tube into communication with the internal space in the movable element.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,543 discloses pane washing apparatus for a motor vehicle comprising a pressure source to drive a cleaning liquid which in turn activates a valve and a jet nozzle associated with a jet-nozzle carrier which is movable from a pulled-back rest position to an operational, deployed position. The valve is first opened once the jet-nozzle carrier has moved the jet nozzle to the deployed position. The valve includes a cap which loosely covers a passage opening in the jet-nozzle carrier leading to the jet nozzle but which follows movement of the jet-nozzle carrier until its peripheral area contacts a fixed stop thereby uncovering the passage opening immediately before the jet nozzle reaches its deployed position. The cap is pressed against the jet-nozzle carrier by cleaning liquid pressure, a spring or a permanent magnet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,286 is concerned with a nozzle carrier for a windshield washing apparatus has an outer cylinder and a telescoping inner cylinder in the outer cylinder. The inner cylinder has at an end portion thereof a jet nozzle which can be shoved out of the outer cylinder. A first plunger is sealed about its periphery to the outer cylinder and is movable by pressure of washing liquid away from a second plunger. In this manner the inner cylinder is shoved out of the outer cylinder. When both cylinders are at their greatest spacing from one another they determine, together with the outer cylinder, a space which serves to receive a particular quantity of washing liquid. Thereafter, the second plunger is urged, by pressure of the washing liquid, toward the first plunger. This causes, after the opening of a valve in series with the jet nozzle, the washing liquid to flow through a passageway of the first plunger toward the jet nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,271 discloses a windshield washing system for a motor vehicle which moves a jet nozzle from an inward rest position to an outward working position by pressure applied to a cleaning liquid. A valve cover of a valve is moved, together with a nozzle support by the pressure of the cleaning liquid and holds a passageway of the nozzle support closed until the valve cover engages a fixed stop and the valve cover of the valve then opens. The stop is on a fixed shaft-shaped holding element which, in the rest position of the jet nozzle, extends into a receiving element. The receiving element is inserted into a passageway of the nozzle support and is sealed, by an inner side of the valve cover. When the jet nozzle is in its working position, cleaning liquid flows through a passage space between the receiving element and the nozzle support to the jet nozzle.
In a light cleaning device for a vehicle it is desirable to protect the device from dirt and other undesirable matter from penetrating therein, thereby reducing the chances of device malfunction. A cleaning device adapted to be used for different headlamp geometries and car/bumper shapes would also be advantageous. Furthermore it is desirable for the cleaning device to operate quickly and efficiently.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a light cleaning device that is adapted to be dirt resistant, installable on a wide range of vehicles and capable of rapid liquid discharge. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a jet nozzle suited for emitting a liquid jet having a full section.